Bitten By Regret (Just One Bite #2) (2 page)

"Diandra, I came for your help. I'm in trouble and the
only one I know who is powerful enough to help me is you." Jonah dropped
his arms back to his side, forgetting they had even been raised in the first
place.

Diandra walked past Jonah towards the front door, stopped,
and turned to face him. "I'm glad you came. Truly, I am. You gave me the
chance to finally say what I've wanted to say to you for months now."

Jonah smiled and the relief was evident on his face. He held
out his hands once more. "What's that, honey?"

"Fuck off and die- for good this time." The door
opened behind him without Diandra even touching it. A cold wind, perhaps the
same one that had heaved those horrid words at him, blew him back towards the
door. The last thing he saw was Diandra's face staring at him as though he were
a stranger, her arms still supporting a baby he couldn't see as the door
slammed in his face.

Chapter
Three

Lizbeth sighed heavily and, against her better judgment,
said, "You need to let him back in." She held up a hand to stop
Diandra's protests as she watched her puff up in anger. "I know you're
furious with him, and you have every right to be, but you petitioned Eamon to
save his life. Now you're going to tell Jonah he's on his own? Is this what you
truly think is best? If it is, I'll support you 100%, but you need to be
sure." She leaned forward, planting a gentle kiss first on Diandra's lips
and then, guessing since the baby had still not reappeared, she placed a kiss on
the top of RaeLynn's curls.

Diandra visibly deflated as she stepped aside, letting
Lizbeth past her to open the door. Jonah still stood on the doorstep, one hand
raised as if he considering knocking again. "As much as it pains me to say
this, you had better come in." She stepped aside to allow him to enter
just as RaeLynn reappeared in her mother's arms, peering shyly out from amongst
Diandra's hair.

Walking stiffly, as though hating the thought of him being
at her back, Diandra led Jonah to her parlor. He was slightly red in the face
with anger and Diandra took a moment to read his thoughts as they walked- how
dare she lead him through this house like a stranger when this had been his
home for nine years? He choked back his rage, acknowledging to himself that he
needed her help even if it galled him that he had to ask for it to begin with.
Instead he forced himself to concentrate on the sight of his daughter. What a
little looker she was! Those strawberry curls, those gorgeous lavender eyes
that were just a slightly different shade of purple from her mother's own
lilac-colored eyes. From head to toe, his daughter was absolutely amazing to
look at.

He grimaced down at himself. He was certainly nothing
special at the moment. He'd found a spot to conceal himself while on the run,
but it hadn't been clean. How long had it been since his last shower? Jonah
shuddered when he realized he needed two hands to count. When had he brushed
his teeth last? He ran his tongue over his teeth and gagged a little, realizing
that was more of a distant memory than his last shower. He looked at his jeans-
they were ripped at the knees, the cuffs were torn in a way that was obviously
from wear and tear and not a fashion statement, and they were covered in grime
from his travels. His shirt was torn at the hem, almost as dirty as the jeans,
and it smelled twice as ripe. He'd kill for a stick of deodorant right now.
Living life on the run was a bitch!

Diandra and Lizbeth seated themselves on the loveseat with
RaeLynn nestled between them, forcing Jonah to take the overstuffed pink chair
in the parlor. While Lizbeth watched him coldly Diandra visibly winced as he
seated all his filth in her pristine chair. He knew they were enjoying the
psychological warfare game on two levels. First they presented a united front
against him by sitting together and leaving him to sit alone. Second, Diandra
knew he always hated that overly girly chair. He'd bitched about it enough over
the years. The powder blue loveseat blended well with the ivory walls and gleaming
wood furniture in the room, and while he supposed that the pale pink chair did
as well he hated the sight of it. Of course, maybe he was being overly
sensitive. Maybe they sat together because it was habit, and it had nothing at
all to do with him.

It has everything to
do with you, Jonah.
The thought whispered through his mind, making him
shudder because it wasn't his own voice he heard in his head- it was Diandra's.
He glanced up at her and saw the cold smirk fixed upon her face as she studied
him like he was some sort of bug.

"Well," Jonah said. "It appears you are just
as powerful as rumor has it you are. I guess I came to the right place after
all."

Diandra sat up straighter, her arm automatically encircling
RaeLynn. "What rumors? Who's been talking about me?"

"I don't know. Some guy named Ethan or whatever has
been talking about you in this underground vamp bar I hang out at." Jonah
shrugged dismissively, surreptitiously trying to remove a smudge of dirt from
the back of his hand.
 

"His name is Eamon, not Ethan," Lizbeth piped up.
It was the first time she had spoken to him since he'd come back inside, and he
gave her a dirty look before hastily arranging his face into a more neutral
expression. He had come here for help; he couldn't afford to piss Diandra off
now.

Lizbeth rolled her eyes at Jonah's attempt to be pleasant.
"What’s the name of this bar? Where's it located?" she demanded.

"It's called Afterlife- it's one of those underground
bars where tourists can't stumble across it. Only those 'in the know' will be
able to find it- I'll take you if you need to go so badly." Jonah was
eager to help, thinking they had a plan in place to help them.

"Fine- we'll get Margaret to watch RaeLynn tonight-
she's been begging to babysit since the baby was born anyway. We need to see
Eamon, and he's been very carefully dodging us for too long," Lizbeth said
to Diandra.

"Wait," Jonah interrupted, earning him a glare
from both women. "I'm not trying to be rude- I just want to know how you
plan to avoid any… mystical issues with RaeLynn while Margaret watches her.
That poor woman doesn't need a heart attack when she goes to check on the baby
and finds her missing!" Jonah had worked himself up into quite a state. It
was obvious he was truly concerned, and grudgingly he earned points from Diandra
and Lizbeth both for it.

Diandra sighed heavily and then answered him. "RaeLynn
may be four months old, and she may even look four months old, but she's way
smarter than that. We've already explained to her that she cannot ever let
anyone else see her disappear except for us. She knows you are her father, so
she assumed it was all right to do so in front of you." She focused her
attention on the baby for a moment, lost in thought. He could see her start to
say something and then shake her head. "RaeLynn wants you to hold her if
you would like to do so." The look she shot his direction made it clear
that if RaeLynn's heart were broken his body would not be far behind.

Jonah gave the baby a surprisingly tender smile. She was
peeking out from a veil of Diandra's hair. "Of course I want to hold you,
baby girl. Come here." RaeLynn clung to Diandra for another moment before
raising her hands to him. Jonah stood up and walked to her, peering at the
women one last time to make sure they were okay with this. When no one
protested he scooped the baby into his arms and just held her tight. RaeLynn
locked her chubby little arms around his neck and squeezed with all her might.
As the women watched on, a tear rolled silently down Jonah's cheek.

Lizbeth sighed heavily.
"Damnit,
damnit, damnit!
All right, we'll help you. If we're able to, we'll help
you. But after this is all over, Jonah, you had better believe you and I have
some things to discuss." With that warning, Lizbeth excused herself to go
to the den and get some paperwork done. It gave her a nasty little spurt of
pleasure to turn her back on him and walk into what was once his den. The door
shut softly but firmly behind her.

Chapter
Four

Diandra let Jonah have some time with RaeLynn uninterrupted.
She was torn, her feelings going in multiple directions as she considered how
she felt at this moment. She didn't know how involved he would want to be in
RaeLynn's life, assuming they could save his life. What if he came around for a
week, a month, a year even and then walked away? RaeLynn would be devastated.
She hated the thought that she didn't know how this would all play out. Then
again, no mother had a guarantee that the father would be around to help raise
his child, married or otherwise. A father could choose to leave, or God could
call him home. One never knew what the future held, so why was she so terribly
afraid?

She also feared how everything would work out if Jonah
wanted to be involved with RaeLynn's life. Would he continue to be a problem in
her relationship with Lizbeth? Would she even be able to forgive him for nine
years of lies? She wanted RaeLynn to know her father, but how involved would be
too involved? She shook her head, trying to shake the musings away with the
movement. She knew she'd have to deal with it eventually but there were more
pressing matters to attend to at the moment. She pushed them to the back of her
mind for further inspection later and forced her mind back to the subject at
hand.

Diandra finally got to the heart of the situation.
"What happened? Start from the beginning and skip no details. If you want
my help you need to tell me every single damned detail- no lying, no
prevaricating, no dodging any questions I may ask. Got it?" She fixed him with
a look that brooked no argument.

Jonah sat down on the floor with RaeLynn in front of him, a
pile of toys gathered around her for her inspection. After a brief grin at his
daughter he sobered up and turned to Diandra. "Yeah, I get it. I'll do my
best, but it's kind of hard to explain everything. There's a lot I don't even
understand, but I'll try.

"Last month I went to observe what the others were
doing at the warehouse. I made sure to get there as late as possible so no
stragglers would see me. I guess I got there too late. When I showed up I
perched in a tree across the street and observed all these cops and paramedics
milling about. I heard them say some of the cops were so messed up they had to
shovel them into body bags, like some animal got to them or something. I don't
know what happened to my friends."

Diandra interrupted. "I happened, that's what."

Jonah looked up from where he'd been watching RaeLynn try to
shove a teething toy as far as possible into her cupid-bud mouth. "What do
you mean, you? You tore them apart?"

"I had a little help from Eamon, but yeah, I tore those
bastards to shreds. After all you sons of bitches did to Lizbeth these assholes
topped it off by planning to murder her. She tried to clear her name and they
tried to kill her for it. So yeah, you're damned right I tore them to pieces.
I'd do the same to anyone who tried to hurt the woman I love." The threat
in her words was unmistakable.

Jonah just nodded. "Well, I figured since they were all
dead I'd just get the Hell away from the whole thing, but I was still curious
so I waited until all the emergency personnel left then flew up into this
little window they have on the side of the building, way up high." At
Diandra's slow nod he realized she must have used the same window that night as
well. "Ahem, anyway, I was just kind of wandering inside taking in the
scene and trying to piece it together when this black mist just kind of rose
out of the floor in front of me. I backed away from it and I just couldn't get
away. It… I don't know. I guess it kind of settled itself over me. It was kind
of like standing inside a rain cloud, only it was dry in there. There was no
air, no light, no nothing." Unconsciously he had sat up against the bottom
of the arm chair, his knees drawn into his chest like a frightened child.
Whatever his game had been in the past it was obvious to Diandra that he was
truly afraid for his life right now. "Anyway, I know I'm supposed to be
kind of immortal or something but I just know this thing could kill me and it
wanted me dead."

Diandra interrupted him once more. "So then how are you
sitting here? If this… entity, or whatever, wanted you dead, how are you still
alive, Jonah?" She sat forward, focusing her cold purple eyes on his,
watching him for any tell-tale signs of a lie.
 

He looked up at her and for the second time that day she was
surprised to see tears in his eyes. "I don't know, Diandra. I remember
gasping for air, struggling to get away, but then I lost consciousness. I woke
up on that floor and I could not tell you how long I had been laying there. It
might have been seconds, minutes,
Hell,
it could even
have been hours. I'm just lucky no one came in. I'd have woken up in a squad
car and I'd have a really hard time explaining how I'm still alive when I was
supposed to be long dead."

Diandra nodded. "Oh, you had better believe we'll be
coming back to that particular topic later. But for right now finish your
story. What did you do when you woke up?" Settling back once more, she
adjusted herself to a more comfortable position.

Jonah looked up and just studied Diandra. She was sitting
with her back against one of the loveseat's arms and her feet were on the
opposite arm. He was stunned to feel a lump in his throat at the sight of her
in a position he had seen so many times over the years. He took the time to
soak it all in and realized just how much his wife had changed. For starters,
the last time he had seen her she had been very pregnant with RaeLynn. When he
died she had been heavy. He wasn't sure on sizes since he didn't buy her
clothing but as a cop he had gotten good at judging weight over the years.
Diandra had to have lost over 100 pounds since the last time he had seen her.
Her hips were rounded even while she lounged on the loveseat, and her breasts
were very prominent, but her waist was tiny. She had measurements women spend
thousands of dollars to get but still never quite achieve. He felt the rise of
arousal in him as he looked at her and realized that his wife was so damned
gorgeous.